The present invention relates to a process for producing potato chips and shoestring potatoes, which have substantially the same flavor, color and crispness as well as a slightly greasy appearance similar to conventional deep-fried products but in which no fat content is added to the potato and no foodstuff is removed. Potato chips and shoestring potatoes are typically produced by deep frying thin slices or strips of raw potatoes in an oil. The deep frying process reduces the water content in the potatoes while adding oil to the product to produce the desired color and crispness. However, the resulting product contains considerable oil, and thus fat, which is generally unhealthy.
With increased public awareness of the benefits of low fat foods, efforts have been undertaken to develop alternate methods for producing the ever popular potato chip. Examples of such efforts are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,277,510, 4,283,425, 4,749,579 and 4,906,483. While reducing the fat content of the resulting chip in comparison to the conventional deep frying process, the processes described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,277,510 and 4,749,579 continue to employ the step of frying the slices of potato in an oil and thus continue to add fat to the chip. The process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,483 like the present invention, employs microwave heating in lieu of deep frying, but additionally teaches the removal of the starch from the potato chip and thus does not provide the whole food content of the potato. The process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,425 also employs microwave cooking in lieu of frying to avoid the addition of fat to the chip but teaches the necessity of coating the chip prior to the microwave heating thereof with a globular protein such as soy isolate or egg albumen. As certain individuals are allergic to soy and dairy products and others prefer natural foods with no additives, such a process would be somewhat limited in its appeal. In contrast to the above processes, the process of the present invention not only provides potato chips having substantially the same flavor, color, crispness and a slightly greasy appearance similar to conventional deep-fried potato chips, without the need for deep-frying, but does so without the addition or deletion of any food content to the natural potato. The result is a completely natural potato chip which is very low in fat.